Fan fiction originated with nerds passing around their amateur space-and-monster pulps in the 1920s. But romance novel fans are the closest to being professional writers – or so romance publisher Avon Books believes. The publisher has spent the past eight weeks helping fans create a collaboratively-written romance novella on its website. Fans wrote chapters, voted for their favorite submissions, and won prizes. The result is an e-book that's now available for everyone to read.
Fandom scholar Nancy Baym thinks Avon's unprecedented move is "very cool," largely because the publisher has let the fans be themselves, instead of "sucking them entirely into their own corporate persona." If the book becomes popular, you can be sure Avon won't be the only content creator using the passion of fans to improve its products. Hopefully fans will start demanding payment. You're only doing it for the love when nobody is selling your work.
Fan-authored Avon e-book [Avon FanLit]
